Perisher

Perisher sprawls across four connected areas — Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Guthega and Blue Cow — stitched together by lifts and trails within Kosciuszko National Park. It is a high, rolling landscape of ghostly snow gums and broad open slopes rather than dramatic alpine walls, and it feels reassuringly gentle and generous. The mood is unhurried and family-first, with wide runs, ski schools everywhere and space to spread out. Weekends draw a big Sydney and Canberra crowd, yet the sheer scale absorbs them. It is less about vertical drama than about the freedom to roam a genuinely huge Australian mountain.

Come to Perisher for scale and reassurance: it is the place to learn, to bring children, and to cruise mile after mile of forgiving intermediate terrain without ever feeling boxed in. Its network of areas means you can chase the sun or the shelter across the day, and the maze of snow-gum glades keeps things interesting for improvers. For anyone building confidence or travelling as a family, it is Australia's most complete resort.

The season runs through the austral winter from around June into the spring months, and the snow is classic maritime Australian — variable, sometimes wind-affected, and heavily supported by one of the largest snowmaking systems in the country. Early winter can be thin, midwinter brings the most reliable cover, and warm spells are always part of the bargain at these modest altitudes. On its better days the high open terrain around Mount Perisher and Blue Cow skis beautifully, with the snow gums frosted white.